ADILABAD: The BJP’s gamble of fielding an Adivasi, Soyam Bapu Rao, from Adilabad has worked out well for the saffron party. Both TRS and BJP had fielded Adivasi candidates in the constituency. Congress chose to go with Ramesh Rathod, a Lambada.
In three Tribal-reserved segments of Asifabad, Boath and Khanapur, BJP got only 35,140 votes in total in the Assembly elections held in 2018. In the Lok Sabha elections, however, Bapu Rao got 1,53,288 votes from these segments.
Similar gains were seen at general segments of Adilabad, Nirmal, Sirpur and Mudhole, where BJP candidates got 1,11,204 votes in the 2018 elections. This time around, Bapu Rao got 2,21,258 votes from these places.